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UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says it is clear that Russia interfered with Britain's vote to leave the European Union, adding it was important to put Moscow's tampering on the record because countries across Europe are facing the same threat. In excerpts from "The Rest is Politics'' podcast released Sunday, Burnham said that when he became prime minister in July he asked his advisers whether Russia had interfered with the 2016 referendum. The full podcast is scheduled to drop on Monday. "I've had the clear answer that yes, there was,'' Burnham said. "These things are important now to put clearly on the record and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia." Russia has long said it does not meddle in other countries' elections or referendums. Burnham's comments come as U.K. intelligence agencies warn about the increasing threat of Russian interference in Britain's democratic institutions. The ...
Andy Burnham begins his first full day as UK prime minister on Tuesday, after entering 10 Downing Street on a wave of enthusiasm and a mountain of challenges ahead. The pressing issues look familiar. They were the same ones his predecessor, Keir Starmer, faced: a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living crisis, overstretched public services, and foreign policy that includes wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and managing relations with US President Donald Trump. Burnham became prime minister after spending most of the past decade running Greater Manchester as mayor of a northwest England region with 3 million residents, before winning his ticket back to Parliament in a special election last month. Leading a national government delivering services for 70 million people is a monumentally larger task with problems on a larger scale. These are some of the main issues confronting Burnham: Boosting the economy and decentralising ...
Nominations open Thursday in a Labour Party election to replace Keir Starmer as Britain's prime minister, a contest in which there is expected to be just one candidate. Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will be collecting signatures from Labour lawmakers, and needs at least 80 to run a target he's likely to well exceed. Other potential contenders have all ruled themselves out. Former Defence Minister Al Carns, who had been pondering a run, confirmed late Wednesday that he will not challenge Burnham. "I'd hoped a leadership contest would give us the opportunity for a proper debate," Carns said in a statement. "But months of internal Labour politics isn't what the country needs right now. We've got to get on with the job. Andy Burnham's earned this and he's got my full backing." Nominations remain open until July 16. Burnham is highly likely to be announced as the new Labour leader the following day, and to become prime minister after a meeting with King Charles III on Ju
Keir Starmer has spoken of his decision to resign as Labour Party leader and British Prime Minister as an "intensely personal" one, which he took with his wife and children at a family weekend away. In his first interview since his Downing Street statement that fired the starting gun for a leadership election, Starmer told the BBC on Friday evening that he would complete his current term as a central London member of Parliament. But, while on the backbenches of Parliament, the 63-year-old politician plans on "keeping his mouth shut" to allow his successor widely expected to be former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to get on with the job. "I grappled with what was the best thing to do for me, for the country, for the government," said Starmer. "In the end it became an intensely personal decision. And that's why it was a decision taken ultimately when (my wife) Vic and I were away with the kids," he said. The weekend before June 22, when he announced his resignation on the
Dutiful rather than dynamic, Keir Starmer was elected Britain's prime minister to be a safe pair of hands who would end years of political chaos under the Conservatives. His term is ending less than two years later after missteps, party infighting and one colossal error of judgment that indirectly ensnared him in the scandals surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, a man he had never met and whose sexual crimes he was not complicit in. On Monday, Starmer said in an emotional statement that he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party, though he will remain caretaker primer minister until a new Labour leader is chosen in coming weeks. "The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election," he said. "I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace." Starmer's selling point was "no more soap opera politics," said Rob Ford, a political science professor at the Universit
Labour's Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, has won a special election for a seat in Parliament that puts him in a position to challenge embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Burnham won the seat of Makerfield in northwest England over Rob Kenyon of the anti-immigration party Reform UK. The victory announced Friday cements the status of Burnham as the leading contender to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham has pledged that "if people put their trust in me, I will change politics" - a big promise for a politician who is just one of 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons. He said he would take the fight for change "as high as I can possibly take it." Starmer's popularity has cratered since he led the centre-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024. He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps, ...
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Britain will ban under-16s from using a range of social media apps. Starmer says he will fight back if technology companies resist. He says he is "not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children." The move makes the UK part of a growing global movement to tighten online safety for children. Australia, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have introduced legislation or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children's access to social media.